#(Vicky and Dale’s age)

[fountainpenguin]

Short Version: I don't even know how to begin explaining this, so take these 'fic doodles with no context.

Wish Fixers, my chronically unhelpful beloved...

Long Version (City Lights AU #ridspoilers beyond the above implication. Mentions of death and trauma; it gets pretty dark)

Nalooksthrough, I tag you below because I cited your co-dependent toxic friendship comic and said it was cool- If you don't want to click, that's all the tag was :)

So I started outlining my Dale backstory 'fic (Lemonade and Papercuts) since I am the most predictable person alive and of COURSE I can't resist 7 years of trauma and intimacy anxiety <3. But planning a 'fic like this requires many pieces and many questions.

First and most obvious- How did Vicky lure in Dale? From previous planning, I've already decided that since they're the same age (maybe one year off), they probably knew each other in school or activities.

Ex: Squirrely Scouts & Cream Puffs... Not unreasonable- Throughout the series, many kids participate and the organizations seem to have a big following in Dimmsdale. Vicky's sister Tootie is in the Cream Puffs and Vicky is seen bossing them around in the Season 0 episode "Scout's Honor" ("Oh Yeah! Cartoons"). There's a comic by the same name depicting Remy in Squirrely Scouts (after "Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary" but before he gets his memories back in "Remy Rides Again" and I always thought it was cute). I mean, look at him:

Pictures courtesy of the FOP Wiki

It's not unreasonable that Dale - who's also rich - might've gotten into that (especially since Doug is big on the cowboy theming and of all the rich parents, he's probably the one most okay with his son playing in dirt). Something scout-related could be an option even if Dale and Vicky went to different schools.

A friendship that gets increasingly toxic until it spirals into full-on abuse sounds really interesting (and @nalooksthrough portrayed this idea beautifully imo in THIS comic I can't stop thinking about).

Sounds fun to write, so let's go with that. What's next?

Hey, remember when 7 years ago, I headcanon'd H.P. as Dale's godfather because of this doodle in Da Rules that specifically refers to Pixie godparents and depicts a fluffy-haired kid in a purple shirt?

I recently found out I still had Dale listed as a godchild of H.P. on his full character profile on my fanfic sideblog. I was waffling over whether to retcon that (since I hadn't yet done anything with it), but I started brainstorming whether I COULD do anything with it.

I've always written Wish Fixers in 'fic [e.g. Origin of the Pixies] as a therapy business run by H.P.'s dad (which H.P. bought off him out of spite despite not being licensed for therapy) but, like...

Does Jorgen know H.P. isn't licensed? I can't see why he would... As far as he knows, H.P. owns and runs the place- especially given my lore that Wish Fixers has been in his family for many generations. Sounds qualified to me!

In "School's Out! The Musical" (episode that Da Rules screenshot is from), we learn Pixies are at the back of the line for godparent work, even under creatures like unicorns (Hence the Musical's plot requiring them to remove magical creatures from earth before they could assign themselves to Flappy Bob).

I said in a recent liveblog post that I'd always imagined this was a punishment given to them due to H.P. absolutely failing as godfather to Dale- Thus, the origin of the doodle on the page for that rule. But... I never decided what happened.

See, Dale SEEMS like a guy who would qualify for a fairy. He was probably pretty miserable under Vicky's 7 years of torture and he's still holding onto that trauma in his adulthood.

DID he have a fairy?

I'm just saying, we know from S4's "Wish Fixers" that H.P. is legally(?) allowed to make contracts that swap a fairy godparent with a pixie one if godkids choose to sign of their own free will... Hmm... I'm connecting dots I don't think I like... (I am lying).

I mean?? Dale clearly did not get out of the pit due to magical interference. If I'm committing to the doodle being Dale and reflecting an actual godfather-godson dynamic between him and H.P., then something sure went wrong there. I can't NOT make Dale suffer...

What on earth could've made Dale sign a contract for something a fairy couldn't give him? We know from "Nectar of the Odds" canon that he wished to see his dad, and thanks to previous liveblogs, I DO already have a headcanon of Dale being extremely desperate for his dad's love... Hmm... I can work with that.

I went down a rabbit hole trying to answer the question of how Vicky secured lemons for 7 years for Dale (and other kids) to work with. Here are some lemon tree facts:

- Lemon trees bear fruit after only a few years - They can bear fruit multiple times a year (depending on variety) - A single lemon tree can produce 1,500 lemons in one growing season - Dimmsdale is in California - a state known for lemon orchards.

That feels likely... An orchard of even a few trees can keep you going for a while.

But lemonade doesn't sell for much compared to other things Vicky could've set a kidnapped child up to do (Ex: In "Microphony," she has kids doing a bunch of other tasks like answering phones for her babysitting service, painting houses, and washing cars).

So... WHY lemonade? What is going on that makes this the thing Vicky has Dale do for 7 years?

And who owns the orchard? I need Vicky to obtain lemons without being stopped for 7 years.

Is it a Dimmadome orchard? Maybe, but several episodes imply Vicky's not familiar with the Dimmadomes - and she probably would have turned Dale in for cash reward if given the chance - so those are two things I need to keep in mind.

Does the orchard belong to her family? That's a possibility- Vicky is shown drinking lemonade after "Nectar of the Odds." She definitely could've bought it - It can't be too expensive unless prices were jacked up after she lost her cheap labor - but it's a drink she's seen with in multiple episodes. She definitely likes it.

And we know from "Timmy's 2D House of Horror" that Vicky's parents are terrified of her. It's not likely they'd stop her from taking lemons from the family orchard.

One problem... If Dale goes missing when he's about 9 (Closer to 7 or 8 in my planned timeline), Vicky is also 9 or younger. Are her parents scared of her when she's that small and inexperienced in the ways of the world?

In "The Switch Glitch," she's 5 and seems mild and sweet until 10-year-old Timmy mistreats her- She clearly didn't have memories of Timmy, implying she totally regressed to how she acted when she really was 5. Worth pointing out she goes off the deep end and chains up Cosmo and Wanda, so... she IS mean even at age 5. But also, she's 5. She wears the same purple hair bow in "Switch Glitch" (at 5) that she does when Timmy drains the meanness out of her in "Vicky Loses Her Icky," which is interesting.

So that begs the question... Can I turn my Dale backstory 'fic into a double story of Dale abuse AND Vicky going from a pretty innocent child to Totally Messed Up? Keeping in mind that according to Vicky in A New Wish, Vicky IS the one responsible for abusing him and he "spent 7 years' worth of Saturdays in a factory underneath a lemonade stand."

If that's the way I want to play it... Something happened to send Dale and Vicky down the dual victim-and-abuser path, destinies intertwined. And for some reason, Vicky stuck with the lemonade theme.

Dale just says he spent his Saturdays "in a factory underneath a lemonade stand." It's not out of the question he and Vicky made more lemon products than just lemonade, especially given Vicky's love for money (and those 600 lbs of lemons one tree can produce in a year). We can assume they changed locations a few times or someone would've found the trapdoor on Timmy's lawn. Plus when Dale started his abuse, Vicky hadn't started babysitting Timmy, whom she only met when he was 8.

So, I've set Dale up to be lured in by Vicky because they were friends. I like the idea of things gradually getting worse as Vicky slowly morphs from a friend into a very cruel person. If Vicky was bullying him, what stopped him from just... leaving?

Vicky's transformation was probably subtle if he stayed for so long..... I also pointed out in a recent post that Doug's underground milk empire where he uses hypnotized people for labor bears a striking amount of similarities with Vicky's lemonade stand, even down to the general vibes of "trapdoor entrance" (although it's implied there's another entrance in small building).

And if we want to be technical about things... We don't know if Doug and Dale pressed charges against Vicky. She clearly continues to babysit Timmy and other kids after "Nectar of the Odds" (Season 2).

In Season 4 ("Channel Chasers"), Doug remarks that Timmy's parents should've guessed Vicky was evil because of the Chip Skylark song "Icky Vicky," but he doesn't mention Vicky kidnapping his son. That's.... sus. He even offers to buy a car from her in Season 3's "Engine Blocked" (after Dale's escape).

Why would such a powerful guy let all of that slide? Did they just not have enough proof? Did Vicky wipe the place clean? Did Dale "not want to make a big deal about it" because he was so exhausted and grateful, he just didn't want to think about it or struggle with the legal system? Was he covering for her?? Was he scared to speak up?

... Did Dale not tell his dad the whole truth about where he was?

What if Dale was - in some vague and early concept way - in on the lemonade scheme from the beginning, back when he and Vicky were friends and she wasn't so cruel? Maybe she turned on him and sentenced him to the pit before long?

Why the underground-ness of it? Why the lemonade, which probably doesn't turn much profit... as lemonade. Unless you have unrestrained access to tons of lemons that you can turn into multiple products - Dale DID call it a factory - and no one is stopping you from accessing them...

... but how do you set up a situation where kids have access to a whole lemon orchard - presumably carefully maintained - and the adults don't take it away from them (Because... surely they would've found Dale and multiple other kids if they strayed close).

And Dale didn't leave. He does in "Nectar of the Odds" - apparently of his own volition - but not before. Was he kept there mentally as well as physically?

We KNOW Vicky can't be monitoring him 24/7 because "Nectar of the Odds" is the only episode depicting her paying attention to him, while others show her doing many other things in many other places (though it's worth noting Dale says in that episode that "Vicky's kept him locked up for so long").

Did he stay so long because it was the perceived better fate up until he miraculously crossed paths with his dad (via fairy magic) and took the risk? Would he have gone back in?

Maybe it wasn't supposed to get this out of hand. Dale and Vicky were young when this started... Somewhere between 7 and 9 (given that Dale was kept there for 7 years and Vicky is 16 when he escaped and he tells 9-year-old Dev this happened when he was Dev's age).

Maybe there was an accident. Something not just Vicky, but even Dale felt the need to cover up, especially in regards to the orchard and the fact that it needs to be Vicky's consistent source of lemons (and not something she lost out on before Dale's escape... an illusion of ownership maintained. Kids can't own the orchard, but what if they fooled people into believing it wasn't owned by kids?)

Hmm... some kind of accident that got two mostly innocent kids into huge trouble, thus setting up a horribly intertwined fate where if one of these toxic co-dependent friends backs out and squeals, even the squealer might suffer worse compared to trucking along on the cruel existing path.

tl;dr - if Vicky and Dale accidentally killed the orchard owner but they were kids and terrified to tell an adult lest they go to jail for life so they hid the body in the basement (or like ?? threw it to the coyotes or hyenas that inexplicably lurk on the fringes of Dimmsdale??) and are trying desperately to wipe their hands of this by pretending the lemon orchard is still operational so no one investigates until they can figure out a plan, and then Vicky hardens herself as a trauma response and manipulates Dale into believing it was solely his fault and she'll pin him with murder charges if he gets cold feet and turns her in, and he's miserable and gets a fairy (then loses his fairy via Pixie contract through Wish Fixers, presumably in an attempt to negotiate a way to protect himself from Vicky and somehow not gaining the ire of his father) and then H.P. (lawyer and unlicensed yet de facto therapist pulled two ways) is suddenly Dale's godfather and trying to comprehend what the flip is going on between misery and manslaughter while he's also juggling Gary, Betty, and Flappy Bob at the same time in preparation for the Musical because we know he spent 37 years on that plan...

... Would that be one messed-up yet hyperspecifically canon-compliant 'fic or what?

These thoughts have been haunting me all weekend and I HAD to get my "I'm not that kind of lawyer or therapist" joke out of my system, so there's your context. #Sorry. Is this the direction the actual 'fic will go? ... It's not the direction I really had in mind, but ?? It's off the wall and therefore I must shake it in my teeth. I can't not write Dale backstory this horrific. what. hey.

[hamiltonbutwithjazzz]

No, guys, this is not some kind of meme post, this is a rule - we will think about Timmy Turner A LOT. I'm going to think about Timmy Turner A LOT. There's no reason not to think about HIM, so you should think about him too.

He is 10 years old. His fairies told him, "we're your fairy godparents!" and he said, "I'm calling the cops." He's a fifth-grader. His babysitter has been trying to kill him every day since he turned 8. He wears a pink cap and a pink T-shirt because his parents wanted a daughter. He was breaking "Da Rules." He is one of the most miserable kids on Earth. He had an imaginary friend. His teeth are the dental equivalent of a diamond. He had three (!) fairies, one of them exists because of his wish. He defeated Darkness by making friends with it. He is the middle and connecting part of his friends group with AJ and Chester. He's a star in the fairy world. At least two girls are head over heels in love with him. He organized the first and only fairy olympics. He's a squirrel scout. He can speak in the voices of Cosmo and Wanda. He became one of the characters of his favorite comic book. He was able to reach the fairy world alone right after he lost the fairies. He plays football and baseball. He went to psychotherapy at the age of 5. He is friends with the alien prince. He is afraid of clowns, oranges and bare feet. He's ambidextrous. He was on the Santa's Naughty List at least twice. He creates and saves lives right and left (wished for Peri-Poof, indirectly saved Dale Dimmadome from Vicky's basement). His sign is Aries. He wished that time would stop, and for 50 years in a row no one noticed it. He flew into space. He swim in Atlantis. He is personally acquainted with the gods of Olympus. He said "what could possibly go wrong" and "it's not me." He made a million wishes and most often wish was "I wish everything was back to normal". He's NOT the chosen one, but he's still a hero. He is the reason why some of rules in "Da Rules" exist. He knows Jimmy Neutron personally.

He is an average kid that no one understands.

[nalooksthrough]

Dale Timeline I made based on my own personal thoughts.

And before anyone says anything, I know Dale said he was trapped in the dungeon when he was Dev's age but this is also the man who canonically forgets his own son's birthday. So who knows how old he thinks Dev is.

Plus I always got the impression the kids down in the cellar were implied to be younger than Vicky. And while it may very well be my own bias talking, I definitely wasn't the only one who saw him as being younger.

[inamindfarfaraway]

Evidence that Hazel Wells is autistic:

She loves routine, needs it to feel secure and adjusts poorly to changes from what she knows and her plan, e.g. her stress from moving to a new city and school, struggling to form bonds with her classmates and not having her promised talk with Anthony driving her to run away and be miserable enough to qualify for fairy godparents; wanting to replicate her relationship with her brother with Jasmine; learning how to deal with them both having evolved when he visits; her gut instinct itself says that a tour meticulously structured in advance is her dream holiday and urges her to follow her godparents’ offered one of Fairy World

She has special interests in geology, horror movies, dinosaurs and Prime Meridian Love (and hats?), not just loving them intensely and expressing that through learning and sharing intimate knowledge of them, but using them to understand and navigate relationships, e.g. wanting to watch horror films with Jasmine because that’s her definition of a bonding activity from her routine with Antony; inviting her friends to a book club reading her manga as another bonding activity; wishing Kenueth to life to do a romantic-coded activity; naming her rocks, drawing faces on them and talking to them, possibly originating in a history of having few friends

Her fairies’ default object disguise form is a pair of fidget tools and their entire purpose is to give her what she wants

She frequently feels anxious and overthinks things, especially regarding social interaction, e.g. her fear of Anthony forgetting about her while he’s away; getting overwhelmed by her peers in the cafeteria in “Teacher’s Pal”, fleeing and needing to steel herself simply to enter it at the end of the episode, not even planning to talk to anyone; being desperate to impress Winn and worrying that her home is inadequate for her standards, on a basis of nothing Winn has done; worrying that her geology presentation will be inadequate and wishing for a special stone; choosing to undergo countless time loops to try to avoid any embarrassment; worrying that an online quiz invalidates her close friendships

She nonetheless is said to be “mature” for her age in both “Fly” and “Teacher’s Pal” by Angela and herself

She has extremely high empathy despite not always easily understanding people, e.g. wishing to understand Dev; making selfless wishes on Founder’s Day whenever she sees unhappy kids; enabling Winn to experience their own interest in Patty Possum’s Party Playground the way they want and then empathizing with Patty about fearing abandonment and still loving people when they’re not around; continuing to be kind to Dev at the Dimmsonian and in “Best of Luck” after he twice reverts back to selfishness and malice and believes their friendship to be over; wishing for Marcus to get to be on a paranormal investigation TV show

She has a strong sense of justice, e.g. being so affected by learning about pollution that she starts a local environmentalist movement; vehemently opposing Dale’s corruption; rallying her friends to stand up to Vicky; angrily lashing out at Dev when she thinks or learns that he’s betrayed her

She can take things too literally or lack theory of mind, e.g. getting offended by Jasmine saying that she could dance alone “near” her partnered friends and holding that grudge for most of the episode; jumping to the conclusion that Dev is insulting her when he calls her “anomaly” and he was willingly, knowingly helping his father be evil; leaving him alone when he orders her to on his birthday rather than questioning if what he says he wants is what he actually wants or needs, since he’s clearly distraught and she knows that his issues revolve around abandonment, neglect and loneliness

She can disregard social norms when consumed by passion, e.g. interrupting the museum guide to share her own knowledge of dinosaurs and grabbing his microphone; infodumping about the plot of her manga in detail after Jasmine tells her not to; stealing Guzman’s hat just because she likes it so much

She has emotional breakdowns that lead to drastic, bad decisions and could be read as meltdowns, e.g. packing a suitcase and running away; remorsefully attempting to sacrifice her life to restore potatoes to Earth

She loves official documents and finds the Department of Motor Vehicles relaxing for its rigid structure and monotony

She samefoods with chips/fries and other potato products, so passionate about them as to mention them when introducing herself to her classmates and have a whole episode dedicated to her wanting to eat only them; this is a notable choice because chips have a mild, neutral base flavour, are often standardized by producers like restaurant chains and served with the same condiments, making their eating experience predictable (and she isn’t shamed for being a ‘picky eater’! Her parents and Mother Nature say that it’s wonderful that she finds so much joy in potatoes and gently convince her to give her body what else it needs too)

She also hates trail mix for being “chaotic” with all its different flavours mixed together, and firmly prefers oatmeal cookies to normal cookies

Autism is genetic and her father likewise exhibits several autistic traits

She considers Jasmine casually striking up a conversation with a stranger and singing in public without self-consciousness to make her courageous, no matter what other fears she has

She continues to think of herself as “the new kid” for a good few months post-move and feels the internal need to prove her belonging in Dimmadelphia on Founder’s Day

She can’t comprehend how and why arbitrary, pointless social rivalries like the one between the band and orchestra groups exist

She repeatedly wishes for fantastical roleplaying adventures with her godparents, which give her excitement without stress or loss of control, as the stakes aren’t real and she always wins in the end (the “plot twist” we see Wanda add is the return of a villain from a previous adventure, still drawing on comfortable familiarity)

She has no interest in seeing more of Fairy World until Dev brings it up, strange for such a curious girl who adores her fairies - maybe out of aversion to an unknown, unpredictable setting?

When surrounded by clones of herself and asked to raise her hand if she’s real, she hesitates because she isn’t sure and doesn’t want to “deprive the real Hazel of being herself”, demonstrating high empathy, self-doubt and existential overthinking all at once; Wanda says, “Only the real Hazel would overthink whether she was real or not!”

I’m autistic and I relate to her enough to know

[jessadamsdraws]

I have an insane theory that I have no bases that it could be true but it would be funny

Tina Turner in the new wish series is Timmy Turner's wife. Let me explain myself. Not just the name thing but because of her career. Timmy loved comic books in og fop what if he went into the show / flim industry. That's how they met

"Oh but we see Timmy as the bus driver/ actor/ janitor."

The creators confirmed it's not him

At first I didn't believe them, but seeing AJ, Dale, and Vicky. I'm inclined to believe them considering they named dropped all of them but not him. Also the age wouldn't match how everyone else look. It look like they are like aged up maybe 10 - 15 years (Vicky was 16 so she'd be about 26-31) dale was younger then Vicky so around the same. So it's save to say that guy's not Timmy (also I feel like they are saving him still the Finale)

"What about tootie?"

Maybe it just didn't work out. Also, maybe he didn't want to be connected to Vicky (I don't blame him, after all his life was bad because of her he got cosmo and Wanda)

Like I said. This theory is dumb but it would funny if it were true.

[the-gayest-show]

Operation Birthday Takeover Review/Analysis

I wanted to include this in the review bomb but decided against it because the episode would take too much yap compared to the others to summarize properly, let's go!

(sorry if these screenshots have the player on them I couldn't find a better way bare with me this is better than the easier route i'd have taken)

HAHAHAHAHAHA SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT HERE!

First of all, PERI! YOU'RE BACK BABY HBUIEBRBFEIBFWiuB

Second of all and most important, this was a MAJOR Dev episode. Well, obviously, since it's his birthday, but we got to see more of him being nice while it lasted anyways, and we also got to see more of Dale's neglect and it's affects on Dev.

You can see he's clearly disappointed about his dad paying no attention to Dev at all, preferring to work on "Project H" instead of his own son. Will throw hands on this man fr.

Throughout the episode we see more hints of this disappointment, like when Vicky gets invited to the party (Dev doesn't even like princesses! DUDE!)

Now that I'm really rewatching as I go, Hazel seems to be very aware of it and very empathetic towards Dev, I like that about her. She's looking out for her friend! Good on her!

On the other hand (to move the plot forward and thus this review), I love seeing the fairy family back in action again!

I love their dynamic even more! Also I swear to God half of the iconic lines come from these interactions I swear to God.

"Time to see what's so secret about this room!....... On second thought never mind" SOBBING LAUGHING

Having the three of them slowly find out that project H is actually Project Hazel is so wild. THEY LITERALLY WROTE DOWN IMPORTANT INFO ON THE BOARD LIKE THE FAIRIES THING. COSMO! WANDA! WHYYYYYYYYY

The sad part of the matter is, Dale was fixated on Dev's friend of all people simply because she was... content? With fairy godparents? It's so sad actually for Dev... he REALLY needs someone to care about him

I wanna get into Vicky though now, and the surprising amounts of references to the OG series that were made in less than 2 minutes apart from each other? Crazy!

First of all, she's back! An interesting character to return for sure, considering she mostly acted as Timmy's babysitter in the OG series, but the continuity of this show never ceases to surprise me!

She's somehow similar looking? Like, correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't she be older now? Significant enough to be changed visually for sure. AJ was 10 in the original series and now he's like 30 something. By that logic shouldn't Vicky be closer to her 40s? Does that age a person significantly from 16? That's what I thought anyways... She's still into the "conning little children for money" thing. She's literally 30+ at least, did she not try to up her game somehow? IMHO she totally could have extreme power like that over adults if she got gullible enough ones, could've been worse, but I guess people of Vicky's personality don't truly change unless there's a major life breakthrough that happens. You know what they say about peaking in high school...

Icky Vicky the song (and thus the episode it was in) is canon to the FOP A New Wish universe. I could swear the song sounded slightly different than it did when it was sung in this episode, but I'll blame that on the song coming out 10+ years ago and voice actors being too specific to nail down (I think the guy from one direction played the Icky Vicky singer? No wonder they couldn't invite him back). The song being referred to as "old" got me cringing a bit. I didn't grow up with the show but I get the feeling people who did felt themselves aging in real time with Jasmine's comment...

TIMMY MENTION! TIMMY HAS BEEN MENTIONED BY NAME IN THE A NEW WISH UNIVERSE AGAIN!

Poor fairy trio though, they're all traumatized by Vicky, even Peri (who thought she was some weird ass dream, dawg I wish 😭) and immediately they're cowering with fear at the sound of her name. They got PTSD or something from all those years in original FOP...

What's funnier is them being able to stand up to Vicky by just. transforming into humans, which works bc that's always worked in FOP canon (when parental figures showed up in the OG), but somehow Wanda and Cosmo didn't fucking know that? Truly, Wanda, it would've been nice for y'all to know that some decades ago.

"That's Vicky for ya! Making Kids Miserable Since 2001!"

Actually it would be 1998 if we count the Oh Yeah Cartoon Pilot and subsequent episodes, but I guess we're only counting actual FOP as canon 😔

-

I wanna really talk about the last scene though, where Dev finds out that Project H was Project Hazel. It REALLY tears him up inside to see just HOW bad his father doesn't give a shit about him.

LOOK. LOOK AT THAT FACE AND TELL ME THAT ISN'T DEVASTATION! Even as he's recounting all the times that his father talked about Project H

The emotional neglect really runs deep with this one.

He lashes out at both Peri and Hazel (her especially since he's under the impression that she faked being his friend or something) and even wishes for Peri to leave him alone. So basically he's closing himself off from the 2 people who cared about him the most, likely as an emotional response. And then he goes and crosses off everything on the board in anger and leaves.

I've noticed Peri's behaviour towards Dev has changed a bit again since the Dimmsonian episode. I think in that episode initially he seemed more tired, and he's probably still tired, but if he is, it's not shown as much here. I think personally Peri seeing more of Dev's life might've changed his attitude towards the child, but he still remains semi optimistic. He cares about this kid. It's shown even in just those few seconds of hesitation before he leaves that Peri was kind of heartbroken/sad at the request to leave Dev's side, but was willing to do so since he asked/wished. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I really do enjoy their dynamic and really wish to see more of it, especially after this.

This is all 100% driven from his dad's actions affecting his emotional state, and I think this is actually a perfect setup for the episode where Dev and Irep take over Fairy World. Especially if Irep finds Dev like not even seconds after this scene, he's more vulnerable now than he's been throughout the whole series thus far, so a manipulator like Irep (if he is a good one, but heck even if he was dogshit at it) could defo make him change his thoughts on things.

Overall this episode was great and there's lots to love about it!

[ilikemicrowaves]

Erm hey gamers . Full body ref for wof Dev and Dale. This au is eating my insides.

Lord Drought of the Sandwings (Dale Dimmadome)

Lord Drought is a 32 year old sandwing residing in his mansion in Sanctuary. At age 7 he was kidnapped from his home and forced to work child labor at lemonade stand by a rainwing named Vervet (Vicky.) Drought was rescued and reunited with his father, Drake, (Doug Dimmadome.) Now he has a son named Dry (Dev, gave him an even worse name lol.) Lord Drought accessorizes himself in a white jacket with yellow lining, multiple rings, ankle bracelets, horn cuffs, wrist cuffs and has embedded rubies on his barb tail.

Dry of the Sandwings (Development Dimmadome)

Dry is a 4 year old sandwing residing with his father (Lord Drought) in Sanctuary. He attends an all tribe school in Sanctuary. He wears square sunglasses, and Drought makes him wear a golden protective Barbtail cover since he never taught Dry how to properly keep it away from things.

+ size comparison

[wausaupilot]

Wausau area obituaries June 12, 2024

Arlene C. Thurs Arlene Thurs passed away on Sunday, June 9, 2024 at the age of 77 with her loved ones by her side. Arlene enjoyed spending time in her flower gardens, living in Indigo Heights where mother developed the subdivision, and painting. She is survived by her husband of 31 years, Dale; step-daughter Brenda (Kyle) Ostrowski; a daughter;4 grandchildren, and brother, James (Vickie) Colby.…

[governmentagencynews]

LOS ANGELES – A South Bay man was sentenced Oct. 25, to life without parole in federal prison after admitting to producing thousands of sexually explicit images and videos of nearly three-dozen children – one of whom was exploited over the course of at least two years, and performed sex acts online in exchange for money.Billy Edward Frederick, 52, of Redondo Beach, California, was sentenced by United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer, who after sentencing Frederick to life, said that “to say his conduct is despicable is an understatement.” “Our unrelenting investigative efforts of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents and our federal partners resulted in this child predator going away for life in federal prison for his egregious crimes,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang, HSI Long Beach. “HSI will continue to work tirelessly for the victims to identify these dangerous offenders and bring them to justice. Our efforts are vital in protecting our nation’s most vulnerable population from sexual predators.” Judge Fischer added that “life in prison adequately reflects the seriousness of the offense,” in which Frederick “targeted” victims in a “part of the world where children are known for being sexually exploited.” Frederick pleaded guilty in September 2021 to two felony offenses: production of child pornography for transportation into the United States and enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity. According to court documents, Frederick obtained and stored in his Google accounts various images and videos depicting child sex abuse material. In messages sent to Frederick, several victims call Frederick “master.” Prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum that Frederick exploited “young boys in the Philippines in need of money for food and school.” Frederick admitted to producing more than 5,000 images and videos of child pornography involving at least 35 different children by requesting these children engage in specified sexually explicit activity in exchange for money. Some of the videos and images depicted minor victims under the age of 12 being used for sexual acts. “Using Google Chat to bridge their geographical divide, [Frederick], while living in Los Angeles County, exploited numerous boys who lived in the Philippines,” according to the sentencing memorandum. Frederick’s “years-long conversations with these Philippine boys were not coded; they were explicit and lurid – brimming with details regarding what defendant liked, demanded, and expected from his victims, should they wish to be paid.” In addition to the life sentence, Judge Fischer ordered Frederick to pay $5,000 to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015; $5,000 to the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018, and $8,000 in restitution to one of the victims. Assistant United States Attorney Kathy Yu of the Violent and Organized Crime Section prosecuted this case. HSI is a directorate of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 6,800 special agents assigned to 225 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

[doubleddenden]

We're 5 months into 2022 as of May 22nd. It's time for another look at just how fucked we are by checking in on

The Timeline

Elon Musk buys Twitter to own the libs. Wait actually he changes his mind. Maybe actually yes. Wait. What about all the bots? Maybe no. Lots of people are jumping ship

Eurovision happened. Something about banana wolves and pussy salad? Idk man, but Ukraine won

Square Enix sold a bunch of IPs for... NFTs. Like Deus Ex and Tomb Raider. For. NFTs.

BTW NFTs and crypto fell hard recently

BTW BTW, one of the biggest NFT guys behind those ugly monkeys tried to make a dating site for themselves, then called it off because of too many dudes

Speaking of dating, Dead By Daylight is making a dating sim called DBD Hooked on You, made by the same people that made the KFC dating sim. Now you can date your favorite serial killers and be the "I can fix him" girl you've always wanted to be

Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers came back in the weirdest possible way. Look aesthetics aside, I mean it when I say weird. Like Ugly Sonic makes an appearance weird. Like two characters got together that had no business getting together weird. Like Chip n Dale not sounding like Chip n Dale weird.

You know that bird that was in Lion King? Zazu? Yeah his species is going extinct. I thought it was a toucan or something but nah, thats a Yellow Billed Horn Bill, and climate change is wiping them out.

MCR is back- again! This time Measles didn't come with them

Unfortunately Monkeypox did. Yeah turns out it's was around before in 2003 or so, even 2021. Do some googling but try not to panic. There are treatments from the looks of things so we're already better off than we were with Covid, but educate yourselves on the matter to be safe, and don't brush off warnings.

Fairly Odd Parents has a live action Paramount+ series where Timmy leaves very 2d Cosmo and Wanda to some very not 2d and live kids when he goes off to college or something idk. Btw, Vicky works at the school now. Btw btw, Vicky has a crush on- go ahead and guess- no seriously try it you'll never get it- it's Crocker. Twitchy ass FAIRY god PARENTS ass ear on his neck ass Crocker. Yeah she was 16 during the regular show and he was still middle aged and yes this did come out of nowhere, why do you ask?

Digimon Survive survived development hell and is actually coming out in like 2 months, and seems like it might be a VN with Tactical RPG elements and a karma system- oh and teens will probably die, most definitely

Avatar actually put out a trailer for its new movie. No no not the fun one with the bald kid or buff tomboy- the one with blue people that have sex with their hair

Warner Bros really weren't joking when they decided to make a co-op Smash clone of characters like Batman, Arya Stark, Jake the Dog, and Ultra Instinct Shaggy. It's real. I swear I saw it. I stg Batman and UI Shaggy really fought against Bugs Bunny and fucking Arya Stark. I wish I was lying.

Kingdom Hearts 4 is announced, and Sora has gone down from a size 32 clown shoe to a size 13 as he steps into the most disturbingly realistic world in the franchise yet.

Oh and this was a couple of months back, but Robert Pattison and Zoë Kravitz were interviewed by a Vtuber named LaPlus (La+?) Darkness from the Japanese side of Hololive, where she asked him how he used the bathroom in the Batman suit, and he gave a fun answer. He actually looked happy

And to end it on a somewhat bittersweet note. Scrat finally got the nut. That fucked up squirrel from Ice Age that caused several natural disasters, broke the laws of physics, broke EARTH- he finally. Finally got his nut. His struggle is over.

Until we meet again

[tibby]

What’s ur thots on each member of the green dale 7? Plus ur favourite side characters :)

jeff: my feelings on jeff tend to depend on how much dan harmon is projecting onto him, but unfortunately, he’s probably the member of the study group that i relate to the most. idk how controversial this is but i don’t think he’s a bad guy, but i also think that he’s like, the most insane member of the group and the show is a lot more fun when they lean into that. plus the winger speeches are always good and i have a soft spot for assholes who start to become kinder and better because of the found family they find themselves in.

britta: i think one of the biggest flaws in community as the show goes on is the constant dumbing down of britta. she does stupid stuff and her activism is incredibly bare minimum, but she’s not a complete idiot and there’s a very clear difference in her intelligence between season one and even like, season three. also the way that the others treated her in relation to this was generally kind of shitty, because it was rarely criticism of her basic politics, and mainly just making fun of her because they could. wild that pierce was the only one that called them to task for using her name to mean fuck something up, especially since the phrase “britta’d it” clearly hurt her.

abed: is there much to say besides I Love Him? i think abed is one of the few portrayals of autism i’ve seen that i personally was not offended by, and it was nice to see his friends genuinely care about him and still like being around him even when he did show symptoms, because sometimes...it does not happen lmao. i do think there were times when they enabled him a little too much, but for the most part, abed is very near and dear to me and danny pudi deserves an emmy.

troy: i feel like troy is a character that could have been badly handled if left in the hands of another actor, but i think donald glover killed it from start to finish. his transition from popular asshole jock to loveable sweet nerd was incredibly well done given that this is a twenty minute sitcom and they managed to do it within half a season without it ever feeling rushed. very kind of him to prefer women in pjs to women in lingerie.

annie: i definitely take issues with the way the show sometimes handled her drug addiction and the general sexualisation of her, despite constantly pointing out that they SHOULDN’T do that, but annie herself...i love her so much. she’s been through so much at such a young age and continues to be strong and open and sweet, and i think the group would have fallen apart without her. she’s also probably the most dangerous of them all, so she’s got that going for her. also she’s definitely a lesbian.

shirley: i honestly think shirley is the funniest character in the show like so many of her lines and the way yvette delivers them...comedy gold. it’s a shame that dan harmon never learned to respect her because shirley had so much potential and deserved so much better than what she got. sure she’s a little homophobic but like, it’s in a fun way. she’s also the scariest member of the study group and the way the other members and the writers constantly shoved her into the role of Team Mom was annoying, because the episodes where they let shirley have fun and be chaotic are some of the best.

pierce: just an asshole. what else is there to say?

i genuinely love chang even though he’s like, fully insane, but ken jeong just plays him so well and he’s got some of the best lines in the entire show. i know the dean is just a homophobic stereotype but i love the campy freak and am obsessed with her entire wardrobe. vicky was underused and leonard & magnitude are tied for the best characters in the entire show. i’m only halfway through s5 so idk if he gets bad but i’m LOVING professor hickey and duncan is always good fun.

[fountainpenguin]

Riddle watches New Wish - Post #29

Jumping off from my previous and pending liveblogs through The Battle of Big Wand -> but this is mostly me talking about Dale headcanons and 'fics

Partway through my next liveblog post, I started rambling about Dale and doodled a joke, and... it got really long, so now it's in its own post.

I'm sorry you have to see this, SDKFLJ...

Mildly suggestive stick figure honeymoon doodles - #ScarletPenguin

why does he still look anxious and pathetic even when he's plotting a takeover... he's the goofiest guy. I love him.

Liveblog Notes

As far as me loving characters with traumatic backstories goes, I do enjoy Peri, but he has way too many blank spots in his lore and things that are making me look at him sideways, waiting for him to say something I can work with.

I would've liked to see more of his backstory come into play... I feel like that would've been a great episode theme focused on the Peri-Dev dynamic (Them figuring each other out, uncovering bits and pieces, struggling to find areas where they relate until they do... like the clinginess or abandonment issues). Hopefully we get that in the future.

- Don't get me wrong- I'm really enjoying Peri, but from a fanfic perspective, I don't have enough breadcrumbs that don't come from the OG series I based my aged-up Poof on anyway. - That said, still love the implication that he brought Dev to his parents' house while he ate too much sugar and Jorgen almost caught him, and I'm deeply interested in his many layers of trauma. No notes.

I can make up stuff for Peri, but... I've already been making up his story beats for 8 years, so I'm personally not excited at the thought of designing a new backstory from scratch if I don't have any springboards like his friends, school life, where he's been living, or what he did while his parents were gone for 10,000 years. The OG series gave me Sammy Sweetsparkle, Goldie, and Spellementary and Steve, my beloathed. I don't have much to go off here.

We don't even know what his relationship with Irep is, like if "Best of Luck" was the first time they'd seen each other since Spellementary and/or if Irep was banned from continuing his schooling. I mean... one would have to assume Irep has his godparenting license if he's allowed to jump in on Dev, but who knows...

Me just now blinking in confusion that Da Rules allow Irep to yoink Dev as a godkid when Irep blatantly disregards all the other Rules. Cherrypicker...

And yes, I can work with it if I want to, but I already write a bunch about their dynamic, teen, and adult years in Cloudlands AU, so... I'm fine letting other people deep-dive into him; I'll probably be surface level on my end <3

So... That's all set-up for why I think Dale is my favorite in this show... He captivates me by having this clearly defined mess I can pick at. Locked up and forced to make lemonade for 7 years? wild. We know what it was like, where he was, how old he was when it started, who did it, for how long, how he escaped, what his family situation was, and we saw Doug's estate in "Engine Blocked," so we have a decent idea of where he lived and how he grew up.

We've seen a lot of clues about how his trauma lingers around him today, how he forbids his son from drinking lemonade around him, he seems to be withholding details from Dev (who has no clue who Vicky is and seemed grumpy that lemonade is presumably a trigger for his dad and thus he's not allowed to have it). We also know how his young self ended up as an adult... We know he has meltdowns when he loses money and he doesn't bat an eye about stalking or hurting children...

We've got a partner missing from his life, so he's got single dad stress in there somewhere unless the O-pairs were there from the day Dev was born... potentially divorce or widower baggage and either of those is funny... I still think Doug might be dead in New Wish and that becomes increasingly likely the more I look at my age timeline compared to how old Doug was when he struck gold, which is canon in New Wish rather than given to us by the OG...

And if he and Vicky are the same age, were they friends when his torment started? You can even mess around with vibes like "Did Dale get a fairy?" or alternatively, "Why WASN'T he miserable enough to qualify for a fairy?" because that gets really dark if you start thinking about Vicky yo-yoing his emotions to keep him on the line above misery. What was she doing to him...

Like ??? unfortunately, the most obvious thing I can think of is that Dale was so blinded by his vision of Vicky being his friend (and/or crush?? idk) that he kept forgiving her, which is... awful.

We never got a confirmed reason why Tootie didn't have a godparent despite Vicky tormenting her daily, though I always felt like age or her blabbermouth tendencies might play into it (or she clung to Timmy for stability and thus wasn't miserable enough so long as Timmy was there to "support and comfort her" (her perspective). ?? Did Fairy World think it wasn't worth the paperwork to assign someone to Dale because they assumed he'd just make a single wish to free himself and then be fine? skdljf... I just can't stop thinking about it. It's not like his father's wealth disqualified him; Remy and Dev both had godparents assigned. Idk! I think about it a lot. Fascinating.

AND you're telling me this kid grew up with the OG cast after his escape?? There's a LOT there I can play with. Did he have to go to high school with Vicky? I want to believe he was homeschooled, but we never see Doug with a partner AND Doug is a busy person running a ton of businesses. The logical assumptions here would be either "Dale went to public high school" or "Dale was shipped off to boarding school" or something like that. Each of those comes with its own implications, which excites me.

As a bonus, this guy's severe trauma is connected to lemonade?? A drink that shows up a bunch of times throughout the OG series because it's just casual and everywhere? That's so funny...

Insert joke about how it's smart to give your protags weaknesses or fears that are commonplace so they'll run into them in a casual adventure or everyday life

And YET... Despite everything we know about him, there's still plenty of wiggle room for me to play with. I like that.

Honestly, I love the entire Dimmadome household... Dale and Dev and the O-pairs and Peri and the weight of absence of whomever else was in Dale's life once upon a time. Dev is a cool character at all, but at the end of the day, he's a 10-year-old bratty bully who's neglected and lonely. I appreciate him dearly, but it's nothing I haven't seen before.

Dale is my favorite. His utterly bizarre backstory has captivated me. I can make him worse <3

I did have a role planned for him in my Cloudlands AU 'fics - have since 2018 - but I was gonna play him as quiet and jumpy... Curious, easily excited, but not as fingers-in-every-pie as his father. But nowhere would I have guessed 7 years of trauma. And that changes everything. I'm extremely excited to play with that.

He's been on my backburner for ages as "one of those characters I want to delve into when Timmy's older and has a reason to cross paths with him, such as in the working world as Dale becomes more involved with the Dimmadome businesses." My plan's always been to make a funny trio of Dale, Remy, and Dale's wife [my very first FOP OC, Hadley] (whom I've been slowly setting up to become Remy's close friend in the 130 Prompts series when they're kids) and they're just... laid-back rich people who hang out and go on silly rich adventures.

Here's a fun Hadley profile, finally digital since I've only drawn her in colored pencils up 'til now!

In spite of me repeatedly mentioning her in my New Wish liveblogs, words cannot express how shocked I've been to see Dale, who was a tiny mention in the OG series, come back as a critical character...

My girl's shy husband in Cloudlands AU canon, whom she was betrothed to when neither loved the other, turned out to be a horrible person in A New Wish who's 99% likely to have divorced her, and I could NOT be more ecstatic to work with that in 'fic. It's like this was set up just for me! :D

- How funny would it be if they had a Season 2 arc where Dev disappears for a while because he's staying with his mom? lol. - If Dev's mom suddenly showed up because she'd just left for an extended work trip or something, would that be silly'd up or what?

Bonus Hadley Facts!

- She's 12 & 13 around Timmy's time period and attends middle school with Remy. They went to a dance together.

- She and Timmy are briefly in middle school together. They vaguely knew each other in elementary school before either had a fairy- I like to think they had multi-grade gym classes, field day, lunch, and stuff like that and sometimes saw each other.

- Never had Crocker as a teacher, but has crossed his path at the grocery store and stuff. She skirts around him.

- Her mom is a professional painter. She also has a blood blossom garden. Leadly keeps making Hadley give them to people he's trying to sus out as witches.

- Very aware of her dad's horrible dating life. Unfortunately knows he's chasing magical creatures because he's getting desperate for "idk, something new and fun" at this point. Bribes Cupid on the regular. Unclear if Cupid is screwing her dad's life up on purpose to keep the money coming in.

- Has been to Texas a bunch of times (Pencil Nexus has a branch there - "The Boss of Me").

- She hums the Pencil Nexus theme a lot, especially if she's waiting in a line or doing chores. She's bad at sneaking around because she'll forget she shouldn't hum.

- At the time of posting this, her two speaking appearances are in the 130 Prompts "Back In Action," where she's at the Jimmy-Timmy Power Hour dance chasing squirrels, and "Trying Too Hard," where Ed Leadly brings her along when he tries shaking Gary and Betty down for the Learnatorium (again); Hadley's very embarrassed.

- Although offscreen, she was heavily mentioned in "End of the World" when Timmy led Remy to her house so she could help with the cure for Juandissimo's fairy flu. She was briefly mentioned in "Opportunity" when Leadly put the pieces together and realized his daughter has a fairy godparent.

- Her surname was dropped in "Entire World," "Solo," and "Looking Back," confirming her as on the Pixies' radar & as a member of Gary and Crocker's Fairy World invasion team.

- I designed her in December 2015! Nearly 9 years ago now :'D

So, there ya go... That's Hadley.

Basically, instead of meddling and buying buildings and stuff, my vision of the future "rich kids" generation is that they're "supposed" to be in the city like their parents raised them to be, but they blow it off to hang with friends. This whole generation is rebelling against their parents. Are they making things worse for the city? I don't know.

My rough plan was Dale and Hadley bringing their kid [His planned name was Dave] on ski trips and yacht adventures and world travels, with Remy and Juandissimo being bonus parents as the kid grows up :) Aroace Remy making peace with living mostly alone, my beloved... BFF Hadley ensuring he's not ignored when she gets a partner, my beloved... And my main idea here was "Their kid is so spoiled, but he's also getting incredible amounts of attention and love... It's the first time in AGES Dimmsdale has broken its "miserable rich kid" curse, and Remy and Juandissimo couldn't be happier. I just realized that probably doesn't make sense out of context- but yes, in Cloudlands AU, Juandissimo and Remy are still together when Remy's an adult. But it was always my "Eh, I'll think about it later" arc, and Dale a "think about him later" character. And now ?? I just want oodles of him... He's so funny. I've already got a whole sketchpage of him on my desk... I probably won't scan it because it's messy as I'm exploring him in my style, but I really like drawing his hair <3

Dale had a bad week or two with Vicky in my head, but he was gonna grow up fine and live with his friends :) Or... Hadley's friends. Unclear. This doesn't really work with the New Wish canon, but I still think it's funny. I think in some way, this still happened in my canon, but only during Dale's early adulthood. He and Hadley split, orz...

Like... I can't even be mad, because in my canon, they were arranged (upper class kids; Doug cared more than Remy's parents) and in Cloudlands AU, they're affectionate but not in love until they slowly grow on each other while raising their kid, but... GURL, you were supposed to carry this for me, SKDLFJ...

Hang on, I gotta draw exactly what I mean by "Hadley didn't ignore her BFF when she started a romantic relationship..."

Bonus context for Remy's arm for anyone curious & here's him in color

They're just so funny to me... Dale and Hadley are each other's comedic straightman somehow. My favorite thing is Remy being a good friend despite actively trying not to be.

There's a secret joke here about how Remy's dad is also aroace in Cloudlands AU, but his whole thing was being repulsed to the point that he was relieved every time his wife had affairs :'D Fortunately, Remy's glad Hadley found someone else to bother and never got him involved in that drama. Remy still doesn't know what's up with his parents' love life or lack thereof, but... he knows what he himself wants (Peace & quiet and 2 hang out with Juandissimo).

tl;dr - I like what A New Wish has done with Dale specifically. It's definitely wowed me, it's way more captivating than anything I'd loosely planned for him, and his layers of trauma, wealth, and negligence really take me back to the OG series vibes, so I like that!

I can't wait to do 'fics with this fascinating, traumatized loser... but Hadley is definitely his wife and/or ex in my works <3 b/c I set my plot up for this 6 years ago and it would make me sad to "boot" her from my Along the Cherry Lane 'fic plans lmao. I will never experience this oddly specific situation ever again; you gotta give this to me.

Also:

He done goofed...

I couldn't decide on dialogue, but I was thinking "In my defense, I never had a health class and I didn't know babies came that fast." (She was there for many hours btw).

Bonus honeymoon panel ft. (/checks notes) - mildly suggestive stick figures (again)

Other secret bonus ending: "Wait a minute, if Hadley's been to Texas a lot because of Pencil Nexus, does she ALSO have fun cosplaying in boots?"

...... :)

[skeptycats]

Vicky Archives #2

FOREST OF SECRETS - A mother’s decision

Vicky Holmes, the former editor of the Warriors series, has been doing short extract readings on Facebook since the start of the UK lockdown back in March. There’s some really cool anecdotes hidden within some of these videos, so I decided to begin penning them down for posterity and easy reference.

I won’t be transcribing filler, hedging and false starts but I’m including some amount of preamble just to be comprehensive.

Vicky started splitting the readthroughs into three parts starting with this one: the reading itself, ‘behind the scenes’ discussion, and topical creative writing exercises. I will be transcribing all three sections under different headers.

#1 Into the Wild | #2 Forest of Secrets | #3 The Darkest Hour | #4 Code of the Clans | #5 Firestars’ Quest | #6 Twilight | #7 Long Shadows | #8 Leafpool’s Wish

---

Hello! Welcome to my kitchen today!

My reading today is going to be from the third book in the first series, Forest of Secrets. This was the first book I wrote with Cherith Baldry. 

For the first book, Into the Wild, we took writing samples from several writers, a dozen writers, even, and Kate Cary was a new writer to my company and to me. We felt like she had an amazing voice and a real grasp of the sensitivity of the cats, a real feel for the story. And that’s how we chose her, through auditions.

For this book, I went straight to Cherith. I worked with her already on a series called Puppy Patrol by Jenny Dale, I think on a couple of other projects as well. I knew her well, I worked with her very well, and I knew that she loved cats, which was good to balance out my natural antipathy towards the feline species. So I just had a hunch she would be great, and of course, she was. 

We’re going to read the prologue:

Cold gripped the forest, fields, and moorland like an icy claw. Snow covered everything, glittering faintly under a new moon. Nothing broke the silence in the forest except for the occasional soft rush of snow sliding from the branches of trees and the faint rasping of dried reeds when the wind swept through them. Even the murmur of the river was stilled by the ice that stretched from bank to bank. 

There was a flicker of movement at the edge of the river. A large tomcat, his bracken-colored fur fluffed up against the cold, emerged from the reeds. He shook snow impatiently from his paws as he sank into the soft drifts with every step. 

In front of him, two tiny kits struggled forward with faint mews of distress. They floundered in the powdery snow, the fur on their legs and belly matted into icy clumps, but every time they tried to stop, the tomcat nudged them on. 

The three cats trudged along the river until it widened out, and they drew level with a small island not far from the bank. Thick beds of reeds surrounded it, their dry stems poking up through the ice. Stunted, leafless willow trees concealed the center of the island behind snow-covered boughs. 

“Almost there,” the bracken-colored tom meowed encouragingly. “Follow me.”

He slid down the bank into a narrow frozen pathway through the reeds and leaped onto the dry, crisp earth of the island. The bigger of the two kits scrambled after him, but the smaller one collapsed on the ice and crouched there, mewing pitifully. After a moment’s pause the tomcat jumped down beside it and tried to nudge it to its paws, but it was too exhausted to move. The tomcat gave its ears a lick, roughly comforting the helpless scrap, and then picked it up by the scruff of the neck and carried it onto the island. 

Beyond the willow trees was a stretch of open ground broken by bushes. Snow covered the earth here, crisscrossed by the pawmarks of many cats. The clearing seemed deserted, but bright eyes gleamed from shelter, watching the tomcat as he led the way to the largest clump of bushes and through the outer wall of tangled branches. 

The icy chill of the air outside gave way to the warmth of the nursery and the smell of milk. In a deep nest of moss and heather a gray she-cat was suckling a single tabby kit. She raised her head as the tomcat drew closer and gently set down the kit he was carrying. The second kit staggered into the nursery behind him and tried to scrabble its way into the nest. 

“Oakheart?” meowed the she-cat. “What have you got there?” 

“Kits, Graypool,” Oakheart replied. “Will you take them? They need a mother to look after them.” 

“But…” Graypool’s amber eyes were shocked. “Whose kits are they? They’re not RiverClan’s. Where did you get them?” 

“I found them in the forest.” Oakheart did not meet the she-cat’s eyes as he spoke. “They’re lucky a fox didn’t find them first.” 

“In the forest?” meowed the queen, her voice rasping with disbelief. “Oakheart, don’t talk to me as if I’m mouse-brained. What cat would abandon her kits in the forest, especially in weather like this?” 

Oakheart shrugged. “Rogues, maybe, or Twolegs. How would I know? I couldn’t leave them there, could I?” He nosed the smaller kit, which was lying completely still except for the rapid rise and fall of its tiny ribs as it breathed. “Graypool, please…Your other kits died, and these will die too, unless you help them.”

 Graypool’s eyes clouded with pain. She looked down at the two kits. Their tiny mouths gaped pink as they mewed pitifully. “I have plenty of milk,” she murmured, half to herself. “Of course I’ll take them.”

BEHIND THE SCENES

So that was the prologue of Forest of Secrets. I don’t think it’s a massive spoiler to say that was Oakheart taking his and Bluefur’s kits into RiverClan after Bluefur, who we know better now as Bluestar, made the terrible decision to give up her kits in order to become deputy of ThunderClan. She knew that a nursing mother would never be allowed to take position. She had to make that ultimate sacrifice. She had three kits, one of them died in the snow on the way, and two kits remained.

Now, when I started writing Forest of Secrets and coming up with the storyline... this series, you have to remember, was very much flying under the radar. It was still just a little series about cats. Yes, we were going to do six books instead of just the one, but it wasn’t selling very well. HarperCollins wasn’t promoting it massively, they didn’t feel the need to. It was just a bread-and-butter series. And because of that, I’m not going to say I was allowed to run riot, but I certainly had a lot of freedom with the storylines, and that meant I could come up with all these backstories for cats. 

It’s so long ago, I can’t remember how I had the idea that Bluestar had given up kits, but I do know at the time I was very personally aware of the conflict between a mother, with young children, and a career. As a parent, and especially, I think, as a mother even in this day and age, you have to make really hard decisions. You can’t be the best mum in the world and the best at your job. It just tears you in half. And I wanted to demonstrate this. It was what I was living through at the time, and I wanted to demonstrate this in my books. And so, I made Bluestar the ultimate career woman, and she gave up her children. With terrible consequences. So that was the first freedom that I was allowed. 

The other great freedom was that I was writing about cats, and therefore I could write about old characters. Now, when you’re writing children’s books, and as you know I’ve written many, many children’s books, normally your protagonist, your central character, will always be the aspirational age of your readers. So, for example, if you’re writing a middle-grade series, which is for ages 8-12, your central characters will be 12, because that’s the age your readers will identify with and want to be. It has this slight glamour for the younger children, and the older readers will think ‘yep, I get them, that’s what I’m living at the moment’. 

However, because I’m writing about cats, cats age far more quickly, obviously, than humans do. So my characters could start off as kits, but within a book they would be apprentices, and then within another book they’d be grown-ups, and having a job, and having great responsibility, including over life and death. And they’ll be able to get married and have children, basically, in the cat world. That meant I could have central characters that aged, and that felt very new at the time, and very fresh. 

Therefore, I was able to have in Bluestar a central character who had not only had children, but she had given up those children for the sake of her job. Including losing the life of one of her three babies in the snow, and then had had to live with those consequences all through her career. And it destroyed her mind. Therefore, in Forest of Secrets and all of the rest of the first series, I was able to show an old character, her mind disintegrated. I think if Bluestar was human we would’ve said she had symptoms of dementia. She certainly had symptoms of massive depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. We don’t need to label it, we just need to empathise. 

We can really see how she was destroyed by giving up her children, and as series one progresses and the trouble with Tigerclaw emerges and she faces losing her whole Clan, it seems to her that her sacrifice was for nothing. And the pain of that is, well, I think it’s probably more than I could contain in words. And both Kate and Cherith, both mothers themselves, just captured that I think, the disintegration of an old person. 

It’s safe to say that for Into the Wild and Fire and Ice, I didn’t love Warriors. It was part of my job, I was working on other things that I much preferred. Didn’t really like cats, didn’t really see where these stories were going... you know, just ‘bash them out’. And that sounds awful, but that kind of was the truth. Forest of Secrets? I fell in love. Fell in love with Warriors, I fell in love with what these characters could do, I fell in love with what I could do with them, and this is when the series became me. Became personal. When I opened up my life onto the page.

CREATIVE WRITING PROMPTS

So I’ve read my prologue, and I’ve talked a little bit about the freedom that writing about cats gave me, and especially writing from the perspective of an old person. If you’d like to use this for your own creative writing today, I’d like you to have a think about writing from the perspective of a grandparent, or someone who’s lived hundreds of years and is looking back over their lives. How would they see the world differently? What sort of extra perspective do you think that gives them? 

Ordinarily, as an English teacher, when we’re encouraging our students to write from the perspective of an older person we often say go interview your grandparents, especially if they’ve lived through the Second World War, because that was a time when society was very different and very alien. We are in the unique position now of living through our own version of that war. Society is different now than it ever has been before, and so what I think might be interesting is to imagine yourselves way in the future, having gone back to living very normal lives, hopefully having families of your own or surrounded by children from your neighbourhood. 

What would you tell them about this time now? See if you can get into the old person’s perspective, would you look back on this and say it was a positive time for connecting with your family and learning the good of the Internet? Would you perhaps be nostalgic? Are there things you might miss about this time? 

But you can also be realistic about how scary it was, especially if you’re younger you might feel particularly that you can’t control it and you don’t know what happens next. I’ll let you into a secret: I’m a grown-up and I don’t feel in control, and I don’t know what’s going to happen, and I’m very, very worried about my family especially. 

Have a go at writing today from the perspective of an old person. It doesn’t have to be about now, it can be something perfectly happy. Do your bones ache? Does the sun warm your skin? Think about how it would be to be someone else, someone of a different age. 

As well as creative writing you could also look at your own books and check out the ages of the protagonists, check out the ages of your central characters. Do you have any books which present events from the point of view of an elderly person? At the moment we’re all about inclusivity in children’s literature, writing from all the different viewpoints, which is just a fabulous thing and I’m learning as much as anyone else about it. Old people have a lot to say, and it’s worth listening. We have a good perspective, even though I’m not nearly as old as I would hope one day to be. 

[nalooksthrough]

When do you exactly think that Dale got kidnapped? Vicky and him always looked the same age to me, 2 years younger minimum .

Would Doug actually hire a babysitter that’s just two years older than his son, or were they going to the same school? Classmates, maybe? Doug doesn’t strike me as the type to put his son in a fancy private school, honestly

I had originally made a timeline where he was 6 when he was kidnapped. But I have been opening up more to the idea of him having been the same age as her. The angst potential of them having possibly been friends once upon a time is just too good to ignore. Plus for reasons I'm about to go into it would make more sense if they were relatively the same age.

In this circumstance I think the more important question is not "Why would Doug leave his young son with a 9 year" but "Why would Vicky kidnap the son of the rich guy she is babysitting for?" Like think about it. She would make way more money if she just babysat him normally like she does with Timmy. It's totally impractical to kidnap the child your being paid to watch especially if their parent is as rich as Doug.

And as an adult she somehow didn't realise he was rich, even though she knew his name. Which would be weird if she had babysat him in the past because she would have seen his house and/or seen him with his dad. And Vicky knows Doug she's met him a few times in the original show.

So the only explanation that I can come up is that Vicky didn't know about Dale being related to the Doug Dimmadome owner of the Dimmsdale Dimmadome, and she for some reason thought he just happened to share the same last name. It does help that Dale unlike Dev, looks very different from his own father which could explain why she may not have realised they were related.

My current thinking is that she lured Dale into the basement and that she only knew him from school or just any place kids normally meet like the playground.

The whole situation is weird but that's Fairly Oddparents for you!

[the-record-obituaries]

March 4, 2020

Cora Ann Neikirk, 87

Cora Ann Neikirk, age 87, of North Wilkesboro, passed away Friday, February 28, 2020 at Wilkes Senior Village.

She was born October 10, 1932 in Wilkes County to Gordon Russell and Maggie Gray Godbee. Cora was retired from Tyson Foods. She loved to do crafts. Ms. Neikirk was preceded in death by her parents.

Surviving are her children, Al Davis and spouse Annie of Texas, Linda Norris and spouse Lee of Wilkesboro, Tony Davis and spouse Joyce of Moravian Falls, Debbie Smith and spouse Shep of Taylors, South Carolina; thirteen grandchildren; a number of great grandchildren; and a number of great great grandchildren.

Memorial service will be held 2:00 p.m. Thursday, March 5, 2020 at Miller Funeral Chapel with Eulogy by the family. Memorials may be made to the Dementia Society of America, PO Box 600, Doylestown, Pennsylvania 18901. Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements. Online condolences may be made to www.millerfuneralservice.com

 Mr. William Francis Dargin

Mr. William Francis Dargin, age 79 of Wilkesboro passed away Friday, February 28, 2020 at his home.

Memorial services with Military Honors by the Veterans of Foreign War Post # 1142 will be held 10:30 AM Saturday, July 4, 2020 at Reins-Sturdivant Chapel with Rev. Matt Miller officiating.  

Mr. Dargin was born February 21, 1941 in Newark, NJ to William J. and Margaret M. McClain Dargin.  He served as a Captain in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War.   He was a Mensa member, Friends of the Wilkes County Library and  he had a lifelong love of boats and sailing.  He was an avid gardener and mentor to many teens and young adults.  He had a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville.  

He was preceded in death by his parents.

He is survived by his wife of 34 years; Laurie Volsdal Frachey-Dargin of the home, three daughters; Heather Bartram and husband Brian of Connecticut, Liv Perry and husband Ross of Vermont, Kimberly Crabb of Wilkesboro, two sons; Jared Dargin and Tammie Brown of Millers Creek and David Frachey and wife Deidre’ of Connecticut, four grandchildren; Jim and John Bartram of Connecticut, Eli Perry of Vermont, Nathaniel and Theodor Frachey of Connecticut, one sister; Margo O’Malley and husband Tim of Tennessee, dear friends; Shasta Phillips, Shelia Owens, Collee Riddle, companion canine; Macy, several nieces, nephews and several great nieces and nephews around the globe.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Humane Society of Wilkes, PO  Box 306, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659 or Friends of the Wilkes County Library, 215 10th Street, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659.

Online condolences may be made at www.reinssturdivant.com

 Marvin Franklin Wagoner, 66

Marvin Franklin Wagoner, age 66, of North Wilkesboro, passed away Saturday, February 29, 2020 at his home. Mr. Wagoner was born November 12, 1953 in Wilkes County to Raymond Hobert and Bessie Viola Royal Wagoner. He was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Rufus Wagoner; and sisters, Margie Wagoner and Geneva Wagoner.

Surviving are his wife, Brenda Brown Wagoner; sons, Joe Wagoner and spouse Retha, Mickey Wagoner and spouse Amanda all of North Wilkesboro; grandchildren, Jeremiah Wagoner and spouse Kayla, Joe Joe Wagoner and spouse Megan, Tommy Wagoner, Sophia Wagoner, Dakota Wagoner, Gina Wagoner, Mickey Wagoner, Jr.; great grandchildren, Jazmine Wagoner, Abigail Wagoner, Aria Wagoner, Joseph Keith Wagoner; and brother, Spencer Wagoner and spouse Verna of North Wilkesboro.

Funeral service were be held 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, March 3, 2020 at Miller Funeral Chapel with Brother Billy Wagoner and Brother Michael Brown officiating. Burial followed in Mountlawn Memorial Park. The family received friends at Miller Funeral Service from 6:00 until 8:00 Monday night. Donations may be made to Mountain Valley Hospice, 688 North Bridge Street, Elkin, NC 28621. Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements. Online condolences may be made to www.millerfuneralservice.com

 Gladys Wyatt Roberts, 70

Gladys Wyatt Roberts, age 70, of Millers Creek, passed away Friday, February 28, 2020 at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston Salem. Mrs. Roberts was born July 13, 1949 in Wilkes County to Rev. Archie and Julie Cleary Wyatt. Gladys was a member of New Light Baptist Church #2. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Bud Roberts; great grandchild, Gauge Bumgarner; and sister, Clara Hart.

Surviving are her son, Allen Roberts and spouse Becky, Millers Creek; daughter, Pat Roberts and fiancé James Hart of Millers Creek; grandchildren, Julia Medford and spouse Michael of North Wilkesboro, Jason Bumgarner and spouse Celeita, Halie Smith all of Millers Creek; great grandchildren, Jayden Bumgarner and Kason Bumgarner both of Millers Creek; several aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews.

 Funeral service were held 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, 2020 at New Light Baptist Church #2 with Pastor Jim Belcher and Rev. Mike Church officiating. Burial followed in the Ambrose Roberts Cemetery on Mertie Road. The family received friends at New Light Baptist Church #2 from 1:00 until 2:00 on Tuesday, prior to the service. Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements. Online condolences may be made to www.millerfuneralservice.com

  Mikey James Lovette, 37

Mikey James Lovette, age 37, of Wilkesboro, passed away Wednesday, February 25, 2020 at his home. Mikey was born August 14, 1982 in Wilkes County to Janet Vivian Johnson Lovette. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Cecil and Marie Lovette and Lawrence Johnson.

 Surviving are his mother, Janet Johnson Gregory of North Wilkesboro; sister, Malisa Lovette and fiancé, Oliver Bentley of Wilkesboro; aunt, Sandra McCrary and spouse Randy, Smithfield, Virginia; nephews, Tyler Carter, Trace Bentley, Bradley Vorsteg, Elijah Bentley,  and niece, Jaycee Carter.

 A Celebration of Life was held 2:00 p.m. Sunday, March 1,, 2020 at Miller Funeral Service. Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements. Online condolences may be made to www.millerfuneralservice.com

  Carlie Elvin Cleary, age 87

Carlie Elvin Cleary, age 87, of North Wilkesboro, passed away Tuesday, February 25, 2020 at his home.

Carlie was born December 7, 1932 in Wilkes County to Raymond and Mozelle Ballard Cleary. He was a member of Second Baptist Church, a US Navy Veteran; was a Mason and a Shriner. Mr. Cleary was preceded in death by his parents; sons, Scott Bryan Cleary, Mark Elvin Cleary; sister, Bernice Cleary; brother, Arbury Cleary; and a step-daughter, Paula Sebastian.

 He is survived by his wife, Betty Porter Cleary; step son, David M. Wyatt and spouse Sandy of Millers Creek; step daughters, Tamara Wyatt of Wilkesboro, Nikole McGuire and spouse Chris of North Wilkesboro; brother, Larry Cleary of North Wilkesboro; sister, Barbara Jean Cooney and spouse Dan of Knoxville, Tennessee; eight step grandchildren; seven step great grandchildren; several nieces and nephews; special little friends, Katie Owens and Bubba Prevette.

Graveside service with military honors by Veterans of Foreign Wars Honor Guard Post 1142 and Masonic Rites were held 1:00 p.m. Thursday, February 27, 2020 at Mountlawn Memorial Park with Rev. Danny Dillard officiating. Memorials may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105 or to a charity of the donor’s choice. Miller Funeral Service was in charge of the arrangements.

 Donald Ray Ferguson, 73

Mr. Donald Ray Ferguson, age 73 of Millers Creek passed away Sunday, March 1, 2020 at Wilkes Health and Rehabilitation.

Graveside service were held 2:00 PM Tuesday, March 3, 2020 at Shady Grove Baptist Church Cemetery in Wilkesboro with Rev Gwyn Anderson officiating.  The family received friends from 12:30 until 1:30 PM prior to the service at Reins-Sturdivant Funeral Home.

Mr. Ferguson was born May 18,1946 in Wilkes County to Everette and Ruby Nichols Ferguson.

He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Fred and Robert Ferguson.

He is survived by a sister, Betty Jean Ferguson Price and husband, Sydney of North Wilkesboro, a brother, Bill Ferguson of North Wilkesboro, a sister in-law, Helen Ferguson, of Millers Creek, and special friends, Wanda and Danny Byers of Millers Creek.

Online condolences may be made at www.reinssturdivant.com

 Mr. Gary Dale Colbert

Mr. Gary Dale Colbert age 55, of North Wilkesboro passed away February 25, 2020 at Forsyth Medical Center.

Funeral services were held at Reins Sturdivant Chapel Sunday, March 1, 2020 at 2:00 PM with Reverend Danny Bauguess officiating.  The family received friends from 12:00 until 1:45 prior to the service.  Burial was in Mountlawn Memorial Park.

Mr. Colbert was born January 1, 1965 to Fred Ray Colbert and Blanche Durham Colbert. He was self-employed as a Little Debbie Distributor.

Mr. Colbert was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Bruce Colbert.

He is survived by a son, Cory Garrett Colbert of the home, Gary’s fiancé, Samantha Hamby of the home, a sister, Cindy Colbert of Elkin, a brother Bobby Colbert and wife Kathy of Traphill. Beloved father figure to nieces Jenna Lyons, Gracie Colbert, nephew Traeson Colbert and Sammi Jo Walker, and also survived by niece, Kathy Jo McGee and nephew, Matthew Colbert.

Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Leukemia Society of America 5950 Fairview Road, Suite 250 Charlotte, NC  28210.

Online condolences may be made at www.reinssturdivant.com

 Wilhelmenia Wilby Greene Harris, 90

Mrs. Wilhelmenia Wilby Greene Harris, 90, of Millers Creek, passed away on Friday, February 28, 2020 at Maple Leaf Health Care in Statesville.  

Wilhelmenia was born on June 25, 1929 in Watauga County to Willie Lawrence Greene and Flora Belle Greene.

Wilhelmenia was a homemaker and life long member of Stony Fork Baptist Church.

Wilhelmenia is preceded in death by her parents; husband, Samuel LeRoy Harris; daughter, Cathy “Vicky” Harris; brothers, Claude Greene, Cecil Greene; sisters, Wilma Latham, Lorena Greene, Linda Kay Watson.  

Wilhelmenia is survived by her sons, Robert Alan Harris (Kelly Church) of Wilkesboro, Barry Harris (Rebecca) of Statesville; sister, Louella Copley of Charlotte; two grandchildren, Madison Harris of Statesville, McKenzie Harris of Millers Creek; two great grandchildren, Tanner and Shania of Statesville and many nieces and nephews.

Visitation was held Sunday, March 1, 2020 from 2:00-2:45 at Stony Fork Baptist Church. The funeral service was held on Sunday, March 1, 2020 at 3 p.m. at Stony Fork Baptist Church.   Burial followed in the church cemetery.

 Rev. Sherrill Welborn and Rev. Phillip Woodring  officiated.

Memorial donations may be given to Stony Fork Baptist Church Cemetery Fund P.O. Box 128 Deep Gap, NC 28618.

Condolences may be sent to: www.adamsfunerals.com

Adams Funeral Home of Wilkes has the honor of serving the Harris Family.

 Arvie Lou Hayes Hamby, 89

Mrs. Arvie Lou Hayes Hamby, age 89 of North Wilkesboro, passed away Thursday, February 27, 2020 at Wake Forest Baptist Health-Wilkes Medical Center.

Funeral services were held 2:00 PM, Saturday, February 29, 2020 at Reins Sturdivant Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Sherrill Wellborn and Rev. Dr. Susan Pillsbury officiating. Burial was in Arbor Grove United Methodist Church Cemetery. The family received friends from 12:00 until 1:30 prior to the service at Reins Sturdivant Funeral Home.

Mrs. Hamby was born February 22, 1931 in Wilkes County to Washington Mumford Hayes and Essie Viola Holcomb Hayes. She was a member of Arbor Grove United Methodist Church. She was a former President of the Handicap Organization of Wilkes.

Mrs. Hamby was preceded in death by her parents, her husband; Max Aldean Hamby, a sister; Marybelle Hayes Johnson, a brother; William Jasper Hayes and two brother in laws; Walter George and Lester Johnson.

She is survived by four sons; Niki A Hamby and wife Kim of North Wilkesboro, Kimi M. Hamby and wife Kathy of Boomer, W. Kipi Hamby and wife Melissa of North Wilkesboro and Kini H. Hamby and wife Kimberly of North Wilkesboro, four grandchildren; Trevor Hamby, Kailee Davis and husband Tim, Jordan Cheek and husband Thomas and Ethan Hamby and Brenna, two great grandchildren; Sidney Cheek and Emersyn Davis, two sisters; Dicie Hayes George of Sparta, Dorothy “Dot” Hayes Foster and husband Curtis Foster of Purlear and special friends of the family; Perry and Claudia Parks.

Memorials may be made to Arbor Grove United Methodist Church Cemetery c/o Esther Eller 480 Shepherd River Road, Millers Creek, NC 28651 or Mtn. Valley Hospice 401 Technology Lane Suiter 200 Mt. Airy, NC 27030.

Online condolences may be made at www.reinssturdivant.com

 Virginia Fay Handy Watson, 65

Mrs. Virginia Fay Handy Watson, age 65 of Sparta passed away Monday, February 24, 2020 at Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital, Elkin NC.

Funeral services were held at 1:00 PM Friday, February 28, 2020 at Traphill Baptist Church with Pastor Mike Caldwell officiating. The family received friends from 6:00 until 8:00 PM on Thursday, February 27, 2020 at Reins Sturdivant Funeral Home.  Burial was in White Rock UMC Cemetery on Haystack Rd.

Mrs. Watson was born December 2, 1954 in Wilkes County to Mack Charlie Handy and Merle Blevins Handy. She started at Chatham’s in 1994 and worked there until 2016.  She retired after 22 years. She loved her grandchildren, was an avid church goer, made a mean gravy and biscuit, liked canning, cooking, and planning family get togethers.

In addition her parents, he was preceded in death by her husband; Tony Clinard Watson; one sister Ester Mae Handy and three brothers Charlie, Billy, and Bobby Handy.

She is survived by her daughter; Lisa McCann of Ronda and boyfriend Gary Perdue, and two sons, Tony Dale Watson and girlfriend Jessica Venable of Ennice, NC; Larry Watson and wife Jessica Watson of State Road; four sisters, Patsy Lail, Rita Anderson.Tina Lambert, and Angie Holder; two brothers, James Handy and Chris Mcharque  Thirteen grandchildren and six great grandchildren, and a special friend, Jimmy Billings.

Flowers will be accepted, or memorials may be made to the Donor’s choice.

Online condolences may be made at www.reinssturdivant.com

  James Jackson “Jack” Brown, Jr., 63

James Jackson “Jack” Brown, Jr., age 63, of Hays, passed away Sunday, February 23, 2020 at his home. Jack was born January 30, 1957 in Wilkes County to James Jackson “Jim” Brown, Sr. and Sally Brewer Brown.  He was preceded in death by his parents.

He is survived by his daughter, Carrie Beasey of Hays; grandson, Tyler Beasey of Hays; sister, Jennifer Fuller and spouse Ralph of Hays; nephew, Clinton Fuller and spouse Brandy of Hays; niece, Christina Call of Wilkesboro; two great nieces; great nephew, Nathan Call of Wilkesboro.

Memorial service was held 10:00 a.m. Saturday, February 29, 2020 at Miller Funeral Chapel. Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements. Online condolences may be made to www.millerfuneralservice.com

  Dare Foster Moore, age 89

Dare Foster Moore, age 89, of Wilkesboro, passed away Monday, February 24, 2020 at Wake Forest Baptist Health-Wilkes Regional. She was born September 3, 1930 in Wilkes County to Alonzo and Nora Riggs McNeil. Mrs. Moore was a member of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. She loved cooking, music, dancing, fashion and decorating. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Bobby Ray Moore; son, Michael Foster; daughter, Susan Faye Foster; four brothers; and four sisters.

Mrs. Moore is survived by her children, Cathryn Aldridge of Columbia, South Carolina, Debbie Foster, Tim Foster and spouse Melanie all of Wilkesboro, Jodi Foster of Asheville, Sandi Foster of Wilkesboro; six grandchildren; six great grandchildren; several nieces and nephews.

Funeral service was held 2:00 p.m. Saturday, February 29, 2020 at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church with Pastor Kevin Brown officiating. Burial followed in the Church Cemetery. The family received friends at Mount  Pleasant Baptist Church from 1:00 until 2:00 on Saturday, prior to the service. Memorials may be made to Mountain Valley Hospice, 688 North Bridge Street, Elkin, NC 28621. Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements. Online condolences may be made to www.millerfuneralservice.com

  Bina Louise Myers, 82

Bina Louise Myers, age 82, of Hays, went home to be with Jesus, Tuesday, February 25, 2020 at her home. Mrs. Myers was born March 12, 1937 in Watauga County to Edward and Lona Belle Tedder Brewer. She was a member of Rose of Sharon Baptist Church and was a prayer warrior. Bina loved gardening. She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, James Brewer, Dean Brewer, sisters, Ella Mae Huggins and Jean Ring; son-in-law, Craig Gambill.

Surviving are her husband, Bill Myers of the home; daughter, Pat Gambill of Hays; sons, Billy Myers and spouse Susan of Millers Creek, Charles Myers and spouse Rachel of Hays; grandchildren, Jamie Gambill of Hays, Anthony Myers and spouse Ashley of Winston Salem, Will Myers of Millers Creek, Acacia Myers of Thomasville, Steven Myers of Hays; great granddaughter, Grace Gambill of Hays.

 Funeral service were held 12:00 p.m. Friday, February 28, 2020 at Rose of Sharon Baptist Church with Rev. Steven Shumate and Rev. Travis Brown officiating. Burial followed in the church cemetery. The family received friends at Rose of Sharon Baptist Church from 11:00 until 12:00 on Friday, prior to the service. Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105. Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements. Online condolences may be made to www.millerfuneralservice.com

Pallbearers will be Anthony Myers, Will Myers, Steven Myers, Allen Holbrook, Jim Wood and Bill Gryder.

 Clyde Grady Nickelson, age 83

Clyde Grady Nickelson, age 83, of Millers Creek, passed away Monday, February 24, 2020 at his home. Clyde was born July 12, 1936 in Ashe County to Robnit and Grace Barker Nickelson. He was a member of Chestnut Grove Baptist Church. He loved to garden, loved his plants and trees, and being outdoors. Clyde worked for Lowe’s Co. as a truck driver and 33 years for Skyline Marina as manager. Mr. Nickelson was preceded in death by his parents; and brother, Jim Stone.

Surviving are his wife, Dorothy Johnson Nickelson; sons, Clyde Nickelson, Jr. of Ronda, Michael Shane Nickelson of Purlear; daughters, Phyllis Keen of Layton, Utah, Roberta Hadley of Las Vegas, Nevada, Sheree Smith of Victory, Texas; brother, Duane Stone of Millers Creek; nine grandchildren; seven great grandchildren; several nieces and nephews.

Funeral service were held 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at Miller Funeral Chapel with Rev. Sherrill Wellborn and Randy Gambill officiating. Burial followed in Mountlawn Memorial Park. The family received friends at Miller Funeral Service from 12:00 until 1:00 on Wednesday, prior to the service. Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to Ebenezer Christian Children’s Home, PO Box 2777, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659. Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements. Online condolences may be made to www.millerfuneralservice.com

 Kaye C. Reid, age 81

Kaye C. Reid, age 81, of Purlear, went home to be with her Lord, Sunday, February 23, 2020 at her home. Kaye was born May 18, 1938 in Wilkes County to E.M. and Iola Church Campbell.  Mrs. Reid was a member of Rock Creek Church of Christ. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Billy Wayne Reid; brother, Bobby Campbell; and sister, Virgie Campbell.

Kaye is survived by her son, Guy Wayne Reid and spouse Lonnitta of Millers Creek; grandson, David Wayne Reid and spouse Jamie of Cary; granddaughter, Ricquell Cooper of Charlotte; great grandson, Gavin Wayne Reid of Cary; brother, James Campbell and spouse Judy of Wilkesboro; sister, Jane Bouchelle and spouse Jim of North Wilkesboro; a number of nieces and nephews.

Funeral service were held 2:00 p.m. Thursday, February 27, 2020 at Rock Creek Church of Christ with Pastor Michael Howard officiating. Private burial was in the church cemetery. Memorials may be made to Rock Creek Church of Christ Church, c/o Chuck Wallis, 748 Campbell Road, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659 or to Samaritan Kitchen of Wilkes, PO Box 1072 Wilkesboro, NC 28697. Miller Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements. Online condolences may be made to www.millerfuneralservice.com

[triscribe]

TOO MANY BATS

LOOK AT THIS MONSTROSITY I HAVE SPENT THE PAST SIX HOURS ASSEMBLING - THERE ARE ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN NAMES

(Follows the current Batman and new family members in order of appearance, their alter egos, their years of operation and ages. The Ultra Bomb Disaster of 2050 killed off a lot of superheroes, including twenty six of the active Gotham crimefighters, and also meant the remaining Bats took in a lot of orphaned meta kids who bolstered their ranks further with the next generation. Asterix symbol refers to someone returning to a uniform they wore previously):

Bruce Wayne (1997-2012) (22-37 years old):

Selina Kyle, Catwoman (1998-2023), Madam Cat (2023-2056) (22-47-80)

Dick Grayson, Robin (2000-2007), Nightwing (2007-2012) (10-17-22)

Barbara Gordon, Batgirl (2002-2008), Oracle (2008-2067) (15-21-80)

Jason Todd, Robin (2007-2009), Red Hood (2011-2039) (13-15, 17-45)

Tim Drake, Robin (2010-2012), Redbird (2012-2027), Bird’s Eye (2027-2048) (13-15-30-51)

Stephanie Brown, Spoiler (2010-2012), Batgirl (2012-18), Blonde Bat (2018-46) (14-16-22-50)

Cassandra Cain, Batgirl (2010-2012), Black Bat (2012-2050) (12-14-52)

Dick Grayson (2012-2014) (22-24):

Damian Wayne, Robin (2012-2020), Renegade (2020-2024) (8-16-20)

Colin Wilkes, Abuse (2012-2022) (9-19)

Kate Kane, Batwoman (2013-2025) (22-40)

Renee Montoya, Question (2013-2016) (23-26)

*Bruce Wayne (2014-2024) (39-49):

*Dick Grayson, Nightwing (2014-2026), Old Wing (2050) (24-36, 60)

Luke Fox, Batwing (2014-2048) (25-59)

Harper Row, Bluebird (2014-2015, 2020-2050) (14-15, 20-50)

Duke Thomas, Signal (2016-2050) (15-49)

Nell Little, Snitch (2017-2019), Spoiler (2019-2026), Snooper (2026-50) (12-14-21-45)

Tiffany Fox, Batgirl (2018-2025), Batwoman (2025-2050) (15-22-47)

Cullen Row, Agent C (2020-2091) (19-90)

Helena Wayne, Robin (2020-24), Batgirl (2024-27), Nightwing (2027-38) (11-15-18-29)

Mar’iand’r Grayson, Nightstar (2023-2050) (9-36)

Damian Wayne (2024-2038) (20-33):

Maya Ducard, Nobody (2013-2033), Shadowbird (2033-2063) (10-30-60)

Jake Grayson, Robin (2024-2030), Nightfire (2030-2050) (8-14-34)

Augusta Young-Gordon, Snitch (2025-2030), Spook (2030-50) (10-15-35)

Marigold Cain/Wayne, Batgirl (2027-2032), Gold Bat (2032-2050) (10-15-33)

Jasmine Todd, Robin (2030-2033), Catgirl (2033-39), Red Hood (2039-50) (12-15-21-32)

Jeremy Todd, Hoodlum (2032-2033), Red Bat (2035-2050) (12-13, 15-30)

Tawny Fox, Batgirl (2032-2037), Foxbat (2037-2048), Batwing (2048-) (13-18-29-)

Jack Drake, Robin (2033-2037), Redbird (2037-2050) (12-16-29)

Anne Drake, Spoiler (2033-2037), Batgirl (2037-42), Bird’s Eye (2048-) (12-16-21, 27-)

Richard Wayne, Impulse (2035-38), Dart (2038-45), Flash (2053-70) (10-13-20, 28-45)

Walter Brown, Spoiler (2037-43), Sparrow (2043-2050) (11-17-24)

Alf Wayne, Robin (2037-2045), Nightwing (2045-2050) (7-15-20)

Miguel Little-Reyes, Green Beetle (2037-2050) (13-26)

Helena Wayne (2038-2041) (29-32): (Yes, a girl can be Batman too)

Lyn Row, Harpy (2038-2050) (13-25)

Suze Bennett, Sphinx (2039-2050) (15-26)

Carmelita Little-Reyes, Snitch (2040-2043), Spoiler (2043-50), Snooper (2050-80) (10-13-20-50)

Sarah Wilkes, Ballpark (2040-2050) (16-26)

Louis Gibson, Flare (2040-2050), Signal (2050-70) (15-25-45)

*Damian Wayne (2041-2050) (36-46):

Helena Wayne, Catwoman (2041-2050) (32-41)

Melba Young-Gordon, Batgirl (2042-50), Batwoman (2050-70) (13-21-41)

Danny Wilkes, Cornerback (2043-2049) (15-21)

Tasha Teller Fox, Redwing (2043-2048), Foxbat (2048-2050) (19-24-26)

Luna Wayne, Robin (2045-2050), Batgirl (2050-60), Catwoman (2060-) (10-15-25-)

Alf Wayne (2050-2074) (20-44):

Haley~Harry Kent Grayson, Robin (2050-55), Nightwing (2055-65), Superman (2065-) (10-15-25-)

Corey Grayson, Nightfire (2051-) (10-)

Thyra Gardener, Black Ice (2051-) (13)

David Queen, Gold Bow (2052-2058), Green Arrow (2058-) (15-21-)

Sumi Brown, Spoiler (2052-2060), Batgirl (2060-63), Sparrow (2063-) (10-18-21-)

Cassidy Harper, Hawkgirl (2053-2063), Blackhawk (2063-) (10-20-)

Curt Batson, Superboy (2053-2063), Captain Marvel (2063-) (11-21-)

Sam Smith, Blue Tornado (2054-) (14-)

Mirabelle Hall, Snow Tiger (2054-) (15-)

Kelsey Todd, Robin (2055-2057), Catgirl (2057-2061), Catwoman (2061-) (14-16-20-)

Bethany Drake, Spook One (2055-2063), Redbird (2063-) (11-19-)

Beverly Drake, Spook Two (2055-2063), Batgirl (2063-2070), Batwoman (2070-) (11-19-26-)

Jett Todd, Street Rat (2056-2060), Red Hood (2060-) (13-17-)

Zaina Zatara, Stagehand (2056-2062), Zatara (2062-) (12-18-)

Rosa Reyes, Blue Beetle (2056-) (12-)

Robbie Hawkins, Spark (2057-2064), Static (2064-) (13-20-)

Terry McGinnis, Robin (2057-2061), Red Bat (2061-2074) (12-16-29)

Benjamin Drake, Kid Flash (2057-2070), Flash (2070-) (11-24-)

Joey Todd Allen, Kid Mercury (2058-2070), Mercury (2070-) (10-22-)

Vicky Logan, Menagerie (2059-) (16-)

Archie Bloomberg, Kid Devil (2059-2064), Red Devil (2064-) (13-18-)

Hanna Hawkins Wayne, Impulse (2059-2062), Silver Bat (2062-)(12-15-)

Ricardo Little-Reyes, Kid Lantern (2060-2062), Darklight (2062-) (13-15-)

Lucille Drake, Spoiler (2060-2065), Harpy (2065-) (15-20-)

June West, Spin (2060-) (11-)

Janus West, Twist (2060-) (11-)

Matt McGinnis, Robin (2061-2066), Redwing (2066-78) (12-17-29)

Dale Donovan, Animal Kid (2061-2065), Animal Man (2065-) (16-20-)

Liberty Free, Eve (2062-) (15-)

Angie Row, Sphinx (2062-) (15-)

Samantha Wilkes, Slamdunk (2064-) (15-)

Tom Wayne, Robin (2066-2070), Nightwing (2070-2085) (11-15-30)

Penny Wayne, Pigeon (2066-2070), Robin (2070-74), Greybird (2074-90) (6-10-14-30)

Maxine Gibson, Oracle (2067-) (21-)

Abby Brown, Spoiler (2069-2075), Batgirl (2075-2080), Snooper (2080-) (12-18-23-)

Maia Wayne-Queen, Speedy (2070-2076), Black Canary (2076-) (12-18-)

Terry McGinnis (2074-2078) (29-33):

Helen Kent-Grayson, Supergirl (2075-2085), Superwoman (2085-) (10-20-)

Sidney Hall-Smith, Blizzard (2075-) (14-)

Teddy Drake, Robin (2074-2076), Bluebird (2076-2090) (11-13-27)

Zeke Brown, Spoiler (2076-2085), Spook (2085-) (12-21-)

Iris McGinnis, Robin (2076-2078), Redwing (2078-) (9-11-)

*Alf Wayne (2078-2085) (48-55):

*Terry McGinnis, Red Bat (2078-) (33-)

Mason Todd, Robin (2078-2085), Stray (2085-) (11-18-)

Marisa Kent-Grayson, Nightstar (2078-) (10-)

Cici Batson, Gold Hawk (2079-) (13-)

Carson Batson, Marvel Kid (2079-2086), Olympian (2086-) (11-18-)

Toby Delmont, Roadrunner (2079-) (10-)

Darion Wayne-Queen, Gold Bow (2080-) (12-)

Bruce Kent-Grayson, Nightwing (2080-) (10-)

Riley Grayson, Starfire (2080-) (10-)

Finn Snart, Captain Cold (2080-) (19-)

Cera Little-Reyes, Green Beetle (2081-) (13-)

Vic Logan-Todd, Street Rat (2081-2085), Hybrid (2085-) (12-16-)

Scott Free Allen, Kid Mercury (2082-) (10-)

Tammy Row, Gryphon (2083-) (13-)

Remy Logan-Todd, Beast Boy (2084-2090), Beastial (2090-) (12-18-)

Tina Zatara, Conjure (2084-) (13-)

Sharise Hawkins, Spark (2084-) (15-)

Tom Wayne (2085-2090) (30-35):

Devin Wayne, Robin (2085-2090), Bluebird (2090-) (8-13-)

Shawn Wayne-Fox, Stopwatch (2085-) (12-)

Amara Drake, Red Beetle (2086-) (11-)

Kathy Row, Wyvern (2087-) (13-)

Ziva Zatara, Kid Devil (2088-) (12-)

Minnie Free Allen, Impulse (2088-) (10-)

Brian West, Kid Flash (2089-) (10-)

Penny Wayne (2090-) (30-): (Following in her great-aunt Helena’s example)

Martha “March” Snart-Wayne, Robin (2090-) (7-)

Valor McGinnis, Dart (2090-) (10-)

Selina Graysmith, Stormbird (2094-) (7-)

John Kent-Grayson, Superboy (2099-) (8-)

Joanna Todd, Cub (2100-) (10-)

Now, why did I put myself through this madness? Because I needed the full background prepared for my new story, HYPERTIME, starring March Wayne, Robin #26, and her cousin Lina Graysmith, the one and only Stormbird.

The multiverse is not prepared.